Theses and Dissertations (Economics)http://hdl.handle.net/10500/28872018-05-24T17:30:57Z2018-05-24T17:30:57ZHuman capital development in South Africa : perspectives on education in the post-apartheid eraGamede, Ntombifuthi Winniehttp://hdl.handle.net/10500/233832018-03-16T07:08:57Z2017-01-01T00:00:00ZHuman capital development in South Africa : perspectives on education in the post-apartheid era
Gamede, Ntombifuthi Winnie
Human capital development is one of the key factors in human development in which the state plays a tremendous and critical role. Policies and systems established by the government to enable education, trade and socialisation help or undermine human capital development. The study argues that in the post-apartheid era, the government has moved on from apartheid human capital development to equal human capital development. The state has moved away from providing a fragmented system of a racial and exclusive education and training system to a non-racial and inclusive education and training system that creates equal opportunities for learning for all races. The study identified several challenges that hinder human capital development and recommended that there is need for the current government to create clear working relations between various bodies administering the post-school system. In order to arrive at those findings, the study adopted a quantitative research methodology.
2017-01-01T00:00:00ZThe impact of economic and financial development on carbon emissions : evidence from Sub-Saharan AfricaOnanuga, Olaronke Toyinhttp://hdl.handle.net/10500/232202018-05-14T06:01:43Z2017-09-01T00:00:00ZThe impact of economic and financial development on carbon emissions : evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa
Onanuga, Olaronke Toyin
In the literature, some studies argue that affluence and the financial sector encourages low-carbon investments which result in lower emissions while others find that they enhance emissions. Contemporary studies barely consider agriculture, employment generation and the degree of financial development as determinants of emissions. In view of these, the thesis investigates the impact of economic and financial development on CO2 emissions in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Applying the EKC and STIRPAT framework, the study modelled three functional forms which were estimated using an unbalanced panel data of 45 SSA countries by employing static and dynamic analytical methods. The models were re-estimated for 24 low (LIC), 13 lower-middle (LMIC), six upper-middle (UMIC) and two high-income countries (HIC).
The study found evidence that empirical results differ in terms of the (sub-) sample of countries, estimation methods and functional forms. In detail, the study found different CO2 emissions-economic development relationships for the income groups. However, there is evidence of a linkage between later developments of the economies with lower emissions in LIC and UMIC while this linkage does not exist in LMIC and HIC. The study also found that financial development lowers CO2 in UMIC while it enhances emissions in LIC, LMIC and HIC. Despite this, there is evidence of a linkage between later developments of financial sectors with higher emissions in LIC and HIC and a linkage between later developments of financial sectors with lower CO2 in UMIC in SSA meanwhile no linkage was found for LMIC.
The study concludes that not all economic development increases the level of CO2 emissions and not all financial development limits CO2 emissions in SSA during the study period. Generally, the main contributory variables to CO2 emissions are income, trade openness, energy consumption, population density and domestic credit to private sector to GDP. The main reducing factors of CO2 emissions are agriculture and official exchange rate. The thesis recommends that SSA needs to be more responsive to a cleaner CO2 environment by moving away from the conduct of unclean development strategy to intensified green investments.
2017-09-01T00:00:00ZFactorial invariance of an employee engagement instrument across different race groupsGallant, Wesley Herschellehttp://hdl.handle.net/10500/232192017-11-10T06:05:06Z2016-11-01T00:00:00ZFactorial invariance of an employee engagement instrument across different race groups
Gallant, Wesley Herschelle
The overall objective of this study was to determine the factorial invariance of a South African-developed Employee Engagement Instrument (EEI) across different race groups in financial institutions. A secondary objective of this study was to determine whether race groups differ significantly with regard to the six dimensions of the employee engagement instrument.
A quantitative, cross-sectional and descriptive research design was followed in this study, using a non-probability, convenience sampling (N = 1175). The EEI was electronically administered to 285 000 businesspeople from various demographic backgrounds, which form part of a research database. The focus was respondents from financial institutions.
Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was employed to achieve the empirical objectives of this study. Findings from the statistical analysis indicated that White and Black employees differed significantly with regards to how they are engaged by their immediate managers; however, the practical significance was small. Furthermore, the employee engagement instrument was found to be reliable and valid and the instrument was invariant across the four different race groups. By understanding how employees from different backgrounds are engaged it enables organisations to customise their engagement programmes to meet the needs of the various types of employees within the organisation, instead of applying a “one size fits all” approach to engagement programmes.
The findings of this study provided valuable insights into the importance of employee engagement in a South African context, especially for financial institutions. Finally, the study adds to the vast body of knowledge that exists with regard to employee engagement and race, both locally and internationally.
2016-11-01T00:00:00ZDoes trade credit facilitate access to bank finance? : empirical evidence from South AfricaMadula, Mulalohttp://hdl.handle.net/10500/232152018-04-12T10:18:57Z2017-02-01T00:00:00ZDoes trade credit facilitate access to bank finance? : empirical evidence from South Africa
Madula, Mulalo
The earlier theories considered trade credit as a substitute for bank credit. Recent theories suggest that bank credit and trade credit can also be considered as two complementary sources of financing. By using South African panel data from 2007 to 2015, the study examines if the problem of financial inclusion in South Africa can be mitigated by utilising trade credit data. The empirical findings using trade credit at current period are consistent with the earlier theories of trade credit that trade credit and bank credit are substitutes, but the model was not robust to estimation techniques. The study also used the lagged trade credit as a variable of interest and found that it is positively related to bank credit. This means that the trade credit data from the previous period can facilitate access to bank credit. Therefore, the information from trade credit can serve as a signal about firms’ quality and thus facilitates access to bank finance.
2017-02-01T00:00:00Z